CHAPTER 5
587 Words
The sun never quite touched Raven the way it used to.
She woke wrapped in Lucien’s arms, his scent like wild musk and rain clinging to her skin. Her thighs ached deliciously, her lips still swollen from the night before. But her soul… it stirred with unrest.
Dante.
His name was a pulse in her blood. A whisper riding the wind.
Lucien stirred beside her, pressing a kiss to her neck. “You’re mine now,” he murmured, voice low and satisfied.
Her chest tightened. “And yet, I still feel him.”
Lucien froze. Just for a second. But she noticed.
“He’s manipulating the bond,” Lucien said through clenched teeth. “It’s not real.”
“I kissed him,” Raven whispered. “It felt real. It felt… ancient.”
Lucien sat up, his naked chest bathed in silver moonlight leaking through the window. “If he comes near you again, I’ll rip his fangs from his f*****g skull.”
“He already came,” she said, coldly. “And you were too late.”
Lucien's eyes glowed gold. “You’re pushing me, Raven.”
She slid from the bed, unashamed of her nudity. “Maybe you need to be pushed. Because whatever is happening to me—these marks, these bonds—I didn’t ask for any of it. And no one seems to be giving me a damn choice.”
He watched her, jaw clenched, fists tight.
Then the door blew open.
Literally.
A gust of wind ripped through the cabin, scattering papers and extinguishing the lantern. And in the doorway stood Dante—shirtless, crimson eyes glowing, a black rose clenched between his teeth.
“Miss me, little wolf?” he purred.
Lucien launched forward with a snarl, claws out, teeth bared—but Dante raised one hand. Shadows burst from the ground, binding Lucien’s limbs like chains of smoke.
“Ah-ah,” Dante tsked. “Let the lady speak.”
Raven didn’t move. Couldn’t. Two men. Two mates. One, fire and fury. The other, shadows and seduction.
Her head throbbed. Her heart screamed.
“Stop this,” she whispered.
Dante dropped the rose, eyes softening. “I didn’t come to fight. I came because something’s awakening in you. Something even Lucien doesn’t understand.”
Lucien snarled against the restraints. “She’s not yours!”
“Isn’t she?” Dante's voice dropped to a purr. “Why do you think the moon mark burns when I’m near?”
Raven stumbled back as heat seared her shoulder—the mark glowing gold again. But beside it, another symbol was forming. Black. Twisting. A rose entwined with thorns.
Dante smiled. “There it is. Dual mating bonds. You’re the key, Raven. Not just a mate… but a harbinger.”
“What does that mean?” she gasped, grabbing the wall for support.
Lucien roared. “Don’t listen to him!”
Dante turned to go, his voice dark with prophecy.
“It means you’re not just caught between us... you were made for both. And when your full power wakes—”
He paused in the doorway, eyes meeting hers.
“Blood will fall. Kingdoms will burn. And the girl with two mates will decide who lives… and who dies.”
He vanished into mist.
Lucien broke free of the shadows, lunging toward Raven—but she was already collapsing to her knees, the twin marks on her shoulder pulsing like fire and frost.
Something was changing inside her.
Something that couldn’t be undone.
- Writer
